Alone, Never Alone
by Hazelle More
Summary: "...Percy was hers, really hers to keep, and she was not going to let him get away from her sight again..." But her world disappeared soon with the son of Poseidon, leaving her a only a hopeless quest and painfully happy memories. Post-tLH, pre-SoN.


_**A/N:** Plot bunnies...the creator, helper and the bane of writers in the whole universe. One could write a tribute to them. (NO, me. Finish your other stories first.) _

_Anyways, this is both a picture prompt fic and a songfic (The song came much later, but it was too good to pass.) written exclusively for the Project Phoenix's writing challenge: Cup of Tea #1. It was a simple picture of a tiny light within a glass jar set on the ground at night, but really pretty. ^_^ And the song is_ I'm By Your Side _by David DiMuzio, which I thought was heartwarming and ironic at the same time.  
_

_I was very touched by the plot idea myself, and tried the best to bring the feeling to words - it's up to you, dear reader and fellow fan, to decide how well went! Wouldn't say more here to save spoilers. xD Still, enjoy and review! :)_

_22/8/2012 - Edit: The fic updated with some small changes here and there. Thanks a lot, Theia! :)  
_

* * *

_**Disclaimer:** Camp Half-Blood series and all characters belong to Great Rick Riordan, the Project Phoenix belongs to Theia, and the song belongs to the respective owners, I belong to myself._

* * *

**~ Alone, Never Alone ~**

_**Sometimes you're pinned to the ground by the weight of the problem  
Sometimes the world can spin you around, till you could scream out  
Why won't it end now?**_

* * *

She couldn't sleep. Every day she walked and searched until she was both physically and mentally tired, hoping that if she was worn out enough, sleep would find her sooner. Every night she ended up staring at the ceiling, or the sky, waiting for sleep that stubbornly evaded her until it was almost morning. She couldn't remember the last time she had a proper eight-hour sleep. Not since his disappearance.

For weeks and months she searched everywhere, looking for a faintest trace of the son of Poseidon, aided in every possible way by their closest friends. So far they had been out of luck. Percy was out there somewhere, hidden from gods and demigods alike.

Grover had sent out a distress call to every nature spirit under his order, setting out himself to try and locate him through the empathy link, but it wasn't working. Just like he himself had been out of contact when the young satyr had been cursed into an enchanted sleep by Hypnos. Still, Percy had been able to wake the satyr, whereas Grover couldn't feel him any more than he would have been able to feel if he didn't have an empathy link.

Nico di Angelo was searching throughout the underworld and all kinds of terrible and monstrous places, some that were so terrible that he refused to even name them. He plowed alone in places that no other demigod wanted to see even in their worst nightmares. The son of Hades assured her that Percy was not dead, that his soul wasn't in the underworld. It was a relief to know that he wasn't dead, but then…where was he?

Breaking the news to Tyson was the hardest, because he still was quite the adorable Cyclops boy he was before the final battle, but he too, went right away searching for his lost half brother, taking Percy's pet hellhound with him.

All of them, including many other friends at the camp, kept tabs on each other via Iris messages, but they hardly ever had anything else to report other than that they still had nothing new. There wasn't even a rumor of his whereabouts. She had travelled across the country, searching through many states, wishing that she'd have a feeling of where he was, but she couldn't feel him. Percy was not in any place known to the demigods. Annabeth knew that he wasn't dead; she could feel _that_ in her soul.

But the feeling didn't bring her any closer to him.

It was late autumn, and her room in the Chase household was cool tonight. She kept her windows open, knowing that it was dangerous. Any monster in the vicinity would be able to smell her. She didn't care. It was impossible to care about your life when your world was empty. If there were monsters, let them come. Let them challenge her.

But it wasn't a monster that came through. A harmless firefly flew in through the open window, a tiny speck of light buzzing around the room, blinking in the dark. For Annabeth who was trying to force herself to sleep, the insect was an unwelcome distraction. She lay quietly, hoping that it would go away just like it came. It was hard to relax and close her eyes knowing that there was an insect flying around. Perhaps it was a side effect of her arachnophobia.

In a while another joined it, two fireflies flying around her room illuminating random objects and driving her sleep even further away. What was it with those little buzzing lights? The windows were still open, with a heavy breeze coming through with a hint of coming rain; but the fireflies wouldn't fly away.

They couldn't find the way out again. They were lost.

Like herself. Like – as she imagined – him. They both were lost.

* * *

It was not the first night she stayed up lost in her thoughts. Ever since she could remember, many nights were lost in thoughts, wide-awake and alert, until the first lights of the morning were spreading through the sky. When she was just a small child she was afraid to go to sleep at night in the fear of the monsters.

They hunted her. They followed her to school. They stalked her in the playground. They wanted to kill her. She was a threat, they claimed, and she had to be removed.

She was just a child, barely five years old.

She was a demigod. A daughter of Athena, goddess of wisdom and battle strategy. So said her father, and she believed it, because she knew that to be true. Even as a child, unarmed and untrained, she was able to survive the monsters using her wit and agility, making the best use of available sources. Perhaps she _was_ a threat, and she had to be taken out. But she was a hard target.

Being able to survive did not relieve the child, not when she knew that there might be another one just round the corner, someone that she would not be able to outrun or outsmart. Her achievements were met with frowns, her fears with resentment. Frederick Chase was not ready for fatherhood, he said. His daughter had arrived in a golden crib when he had just graduated and was still engrossed in his happiness. He _did_ love the goddess; Athena was probably the finest woman he ever saw. But he saw the baby daughter as a hindrance to his continued search for knowledge. Few years later he married a woman of his choice - Clara Wilson, a mortal, but remarkable in her own way. They became proud parents of two sons in their own time.

Mrs. Clara Chase née Wilson loved her husband and the baby sons, but the little daughter did not feel accepted in the family. Whenever she came home tired and wounded, more often than not covered in the monster dust, they looked at her reprovingly. When they were forced to duck behind a doorway in random times because of the passing monsters, they glared at the girl as if it was her fault. Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't, but it made her days even harder to bear.

She was starved for some love. Some acceptance. Comfort. A home.

She won more bitter glances.

She stayed until it was too much, for she _did _love her family. But there came one night when it was beyond the girl's tolerance, and she ran away, creeping on tiptoes around the twin cradles of her baby brothers.

She was barely seven years old.

The monsters followed her even more after the lone demigod, but the Fates spared her. Help came in the guise of a mysterious gypsy woman, two other runaway demigods and a satyr. A few months later they made it to New York. At the sacrifice of Thalia Grace, they arrived in the Camp Half-Blood, the only home they knew for the demigods.

And she had a new family. She learned, trained, and battled. She proved her worth and won her place. When it was time to pick a new head counselor for the cabin six, she was chosen by a majority of votes, years younger than her fellow nominees. She was accepted. There was comfort within the boundaries, safe from the monsters. She had time to learn what she loved best, pouring over the ancient scrolls and voluminous books. She was even loved, as a sister, as a friend, as a student and later, as a teacher.

But no matter how much better her life had become since leaving her mortal family, it felt restricting. The fellow campers and monsters in the woods were challenging, but it was not enough. She was training and training again, setting herself targets and pushing herself to the limits and beyond, but it was all she could do: train. She never got to test herself in the real world, none of the demigods did. Not after the 'accident' of her first friend, Luke Castellan. The demigods were confined to the invisible boundaries of the camp.

* * *

_"There was a time I thought . . . well, I thought . . ." she drifted off, trying to gather her thoughts. There was a time that she thought that she loved the son of Hermes. Annabeth wiped away a tear, and looked at the demigod opposite him, drinking in the fact that _he_ was alive, really alive, safe and strong, a victor. After so many years, her thoughts were clear. _

_"You were like a brother to me, Luke," she said softly, looking back down at Luke. "But I didn't love you." _

_He nodded, as if he'd expected it. He winced in pain, fresh blood still pouring out of the wound, staining her blade. But they both felt released, having finally accepted their relationship as it was – as a brother and a sister. _

She was in awe of his talent, admired his spirit, and attracted – though she would deny it, or wasn't aware of it – attracted to him, and there was a time she thought that she loved the demigod who had rescued her and was her first teacher and mentor. Luke was her hero. He had rescued her. He and Thalia were her first family. She understood him, she knew his hatred towards his father and she empathized with him. She was angry with Hermes herself for leaving his son, forcing the demigod to become what he was. She thought that it was because she loved him, but in the end, she knew that it was never more than a brotherly love, a caring devotion.

She loved Percy.

* * *

_**You could look up to the heavens  
Someone up there's listening to us  
Or maybe you could call on me  
You always know at any time**_

* * *

It took her long to realize the feelings, to disregard their parents' mutual disagreement. Athena and Poseidon had a millennia-old rivalry, and the demigods inherited their godly parents' personality traits. She wasn't distrustful of the new demigod, but she didn't want to appear vulnerable either. If he was going to be her friend, he would have to prove himself.

And prove himself, he did, again and again. Brave, strong, snarky, funny and loyal to a fault, Percy was truly what she had been waiting for. At first, he was only her ticket to the outside world; a quest mate she could rely to get into scrapes often enough. Then he was a fellow warrior, stubborn and headstrong in his own way, and a worthy swordsman. Together they made a reliable team. Her choices were wise, from their first Capture the Flag game. She couldn't have picked a better partner to watch her back. It was a choice worthy of Athena, despite the old rivalries.

"_What if it lines up like it did in the Trojan War ... Athena versus Poseidon?"_

_"I don't know. But I just know that I'll be fighting next to you."_

_"Why?"_

_"Because you're my friend, Seaweed Brain. Any more stupid questions?"_

The Seaweed Brain was exasperatingly slow sometimes, and she had a vague suspicion that he did it on purpose to irritate her. She couldn't deny that she was amused herself, correcting him, providing information, being a walking encyclopedia of monsters and architecture. She, Percy, and Grover made a perfect team from their very first quest. Percy was not Luke, but he was more than she could ask for a substitute.

* * *

The fireflies were still flying around, unable to find the exit. She left them alone for a long time, and tried to ignore their presence to fall asleep. She had another long day tomorrow, she tried to convince herself. Annabeth knew that she was probably closer to him here in San Francisco than anywhere else in the country. If she could just catch a hint on the location…

The west was the home for the Romans, just like the east was for the Greeks. Jason told her everything he could remember again from his stolen memories, how some places felt familiar than others. She had walked to all of these places, yet she couldn't pick a specific scent. Not yet.

But she hadn't given up yet either.

She was living once again under her father's roof, using it as a safe house. She didn't return every night, and she was free to come and go as she pleased. Still, it felt good to know that there was a place she could return at night, a place that she could call home.

Because she _did_ call it home now. Percy – there it was, it was Percy _again,_ - had convinced her to give it another try, to not give up on her family forever. After seeing his determination to save his mother, and seeing the happy tolerant relationship between the mother and son, she felt ashamed of herself. She wondered if it was possible to rebuild her family ties, to have something like what Sally and Percy shared.

The time apart had allowed both parties to grow mature, and she was welcomed back to the family. Nothing was said again of the past, there was no use of opening old wounds. It wasn't the ideal family relationship, but it was certainly something. She didn't stay long enough for monsters to catch her scent, and they usually didn't care for the mortals.

Even their moving to San Francisco was a blessing in disguise, even though she hadn't taken the news well at first. When she broke the news to her family, they offered every possible help.

Quite a refreshing turn of events.

The fireflies did not look like they were going to find a way out anytime soon, and she sighed and slipped out of bed, ready to take them out herself. She found a jar of pens and pencils, emptied it, and caught the flying insects with some effort and covered it with a piece of paper. Acting purely on impulse, she pulled a dressing gown over herself and tiptoed out with the covered jar, and walked out of the front door.

There was no moon, but a few stars blinked alone, fighting against the light pollution and heavy clouds. She thought she could just make out the constellation of Huntress, even though it was too cloudy to be sure.

She set the jar on the grass of the front yard, sat next to it on the ground and removed the paper, waiting for them to fly away. Instead they crawled in the bottom still blinking rapidly. It was a captivating sight, mesmerizing in the surrounding darkness, almost ethereal in the beauty it created against the transparent glass jar and the dark green leaves. There was nothing to distract it. Even the sounds of the town seemed muted that night.

She watched the glow in the darkness, and let herself get lost in the night. She thought she could just make out the silhouette of the Mount Tamalpais in the distance. It was too dark to be sure, but she had spent a time upon it. A time that she would not forget easily.

It was her destination for tomorrow.

* * *

She was captured, kidnapped and imprisoned in upon Mountain of Despair, and forced to bear the weight of the sky, literally. Captured by the same person who had rescued her, who was her personal hero, whom she had thought of as her idol. She could not forget the look on his eyes just after she was tricked to carry the burden.

_Pain, anger, guilt, worry, hatred…the emotions flashed in rapid succession as he looked down at__ her, panting. _

"_I knew I could count on you." _

_"HELP ME!" she pleaded, staggering under the weight of the world. It was no task for a mortal, and even a demigod could barely hold it aloft. It wasn't strength, but the knowledge that would destroy the whole world, killing off millions of people, which made her determined not to give up. If she faltered even for a second, it would crush her. The whole sky would crumble down upon the earth, slowly pressing all of the earth into dust, crushing everyone to the sure death._

_"Oh, don't worry," Luke said tonelessly, the many emotions of his eyes replaced with one, to please the titan - contempt. "Your help is on the way. It's all part of the plan. In the meantime, try not to die."_

_She was only a pawn, the bait to lure in Thalia and Percy. She knew that they would come. She would have done for them, disregarding the risks. It was a brilliant move on Kronus' side. _

_She groaned under the weight, cried under the pain, fought to be strong. _

_He left without another glance._

Ever since he had run away to join Kronus' army, she had shielded him many times, but now it pained her more than the staggering, killing weight of the sky when he simply walked away. That was not her Luke. That was an imposter, a minion of Kronus sent to break her mind, she told herself. She was angry when Percy called him a traitor, but in her heart she knew that it was an excuse, a denial.

Still, she was protective of the son of Hermes to the last moment, believing that he still had a speck of the old goodness, of her own Luke who had taken her under his wing so many years ago. At the end, her stubborn belief was what really saved the world. She was the voice of trust that Percy had needed to believe, the reassuring nod that he had needed to trust in Luke himself. To make the choice that the future of the world hung on.

* * *

_**I'm by your side  
Through the rain, though the night, every fight  
In a world that has no guarantees**_

* * *

_"You're cute when you're worried," she muttered dreamily, touching the frown lines between his eyebrows. "Your eyebrows get all scrunched together."_

_"You are __not__ going to die while I owe you a favor," he said in a half-worried and half-…what was it that she heard? Respect? Care? Love?_

_"Why did you take that knife?"_

_"You would've done the same for me."_

They had fought back-to-back, protecting each other's most vulnerable sides, moving together in a pair, delivering a full three hundred and sixty degree attack to the enemy line. They moved together as if they had rehearsed it a hundred times, which of course, they had. Percy fought like a machine, moving faster than he had ever done before, the enemy weapons either missing him completely or glancing off his skin making no damage, no wound. The curse of Achilles was truly a curse to the army of monsters and brainwashed demigods. She herself was a lethal warrior, years of training, and the wisdom and strategy of her mother, and the military experience of her father was a dangerous combination to the monsters. The duo was confident and alert, and together, this army of Kronus' minions was no match for them.

But when she saw Ethan Nakamura - the one they had rescued last year from a show gladiator fight, only to betray the rescuers and be the one to finally raise Kronus – something happened. He was coming from a side, aiming for his back while she was too far away to block him. Percy was distracted with a dracaena, and she herself only saw it from the peripheral vision. Still, it shouldn't have been a problem; none of the other weapons were able to even make a scratch upon him.

But something in his attitude, the steady, determined movement, alerted her that this was not a danger they could ignore. The son of Nemesis was sneaking up from behind - quite cowardly and unwarrior-like to attack when a person wasn't looking, in fact – and she moved in lightening speed to intercept the knife with herself. There wasn't time to even blink.

The poison raced through her body, shutting off her senses until she woke up again upon a terrace with healers huddled around with worried faces.

She didn't mind. Percy was safe, that's all that mattered to her.

* * *

_**I'm by your side  
Hand in hand through the days that see us laugh and cry  
In this world of loss**_

* * *

"_You saved the world," she said, finishing off the last of the cupcake. It was quiet in the almost-empty dining hall, and they could hear lonely lines of the campfire songs when the wind blew their way. _

_"We saved the world," he corrected. Of course. _

_"And Rachel is the new Oracle, which means she won't be dating anybody."_

_"You don't sound disappointed."_

_"Oh, I don't care."_

_What a lie. Of course she cared, but she couldn't give him the satisfaction of admitting it now, could she? She kept her face smooth and focused on the distance, careful not to betray a thought. _

_"Uh-huh."_

_But they both knew the truth. All the barriers between them had disappeared, and they could finally dream of a future together. Being demigods, their life would never be an easy ride, but a girl can dream, right? All that was left there now was the acceptance, the choice. _

_"You got something to say to me, Seaweed Brain?"_

_He did. She could feel it in his self, feel him mentally picking the words. "You'd probably kick my butt."_

_"You know I'd kick your butt."_

_He sighed, brushed off the cake crumbs, and took a deep breath. "When I was at the River Styx, turning invulnerable . . . Nico said I had to concentrate on one thing that kept me anchored to the world, that made me want to stay mortal."_

_She didn't move. "Yeah?"_

_"Then up on Olympus," he continued, "when they wanted to make me a god and stuff, I kept thinking-"_

_"Oh, you so wanted to."_

_"Well, maybe a little. But I didn't, because I thought—I didn't want things to stay the same for eternity, because things could always get better. And I was thinking . . ." he trailed off. _

_She was touched. Really touched. She had been scared that he would accept the offer, even though she knew that was selfish. Yes, even as a god, Percy would be able to live a lifetime with her. But what then? _

_"Anyone in particular?" Annabeth whispered softly, finally looking at him._

_"You're laughing at me."_

_"I am not!"_

_"You are so not making this easy."_

_She laughed, and threw her hands around his neck. "I am never, ever going to make things easy for  
you, Seaweed Brain. Get used to it."_

_And she kissed him, right there in the dining hall. There was no one in the sight, but even if there was, she couldn't care less. Percy was hers, really hers to keep, and she was not going to let him get away from her sight again. The perfect moment was slightly interrupted when the fellow demigods crashed upon them suddenly, but she was too euphoric to mind. One thing in this day had gone exactly the way it should have._

* * *

How wrong she was.

The demigods in the Camp Half blood were disturbed by Percy's disappearance, so soon after the end of Kronus' threat. Many were genuinely worried, offering to leave on quests right away. Some of the younger ones were scared. A handful of them were indifferent.

Percy was an icon, their leader, the person that they all that looked up to. He would have laughed if anyone mentioned it aloud to him, but to all within the camp, he was a beacon of hope, a consummate survivor, and yet just another demigod like themselves. An idol.

When he was lost without a trace, it hit everyone as a hard blow.

For her, it felt like the world had disappeared. Not ended, not lost – just disappeared without a trace.

For the first few days, she was unable to accept that he was missing, always feeling that he would jump from behind a tree and laugh it off as a prank. Once the initial shock was over, she remembered the hints, the rumors, the oracle's next great prophecy. Her relationship with Rachel had turned for the better after the mortal was chosen to host the oracle, and now she was one of her closest friends, a confidante. Rachel was worried, the oracle wasn't. Even her fortunetelling powers had been stumped for once.

When Hera appeared in her dreams in all her divine irritation, Annabeth wasn't sure who was more exasperated of the two. She and the goddess had a rough relationship ever since she refused to give up on Luke. Neither of them was looking forward to work with each other. When the goddess had sent her to the Grand Canyon on a mission that'll give a clue about Percy's whereabouts, Annabeth was initially disappointed that they met only an amnesiac with two heavily mist-ridden friends, but when Jason revealed that he came from another camp, and that Percy was probably left among the Romans with no memory just like he was, she was alarmed.

She had tried to Iris message and meet the queen of Olympus in person, and the goddess had denied the chance several times. The Olympus was still closed, but some of the gods found ways to contact their children. Annabeth did the opposite – she had after all designed the new Olympus, and she created her own secret pathway in. Hera was still adamant, but she finally got tired of avoiding the daughter of Athena. Annabeth could not be daunted by the many minions she was followed by. After many days, she finally responded to the demigod, but the Queen of Olympus remained frustratingly vague in her answers, neither accepting nor denying the accusations. Athena remained in the background, silently observing the exchange.

"I cannot see why you need to know that."

"I can."

"Suit yourself," the goddess replied coolly after a long argument, and turned back to leave. Annabeth gritted her teeth anger, trying not to outburst at the Queen of Olympus.

"Percy Jackson is in Camp Jupiter," she announced after a deep breath. "I know that you are hiding him."

Hera turned back to look at the demigod, her face unreadable.

"Jason Grace told me the name of the camp. He knows the vague location."

The goddess didn't reply, but her steady unwavering look of the eyes was getting hard to look straight back at.

"If you wouldn't tell me, I will find him myself."

The goddess of Wisdom looked between Hera and Annabeth, wondering who would win the staring contest.

"Perceus Jackson is not in Camp Jupiter yet," the goddess said, and turned back and went into the Palace.

Athena looked back at her daughter. Annabeth was still looking at the retreating goddess, her jaw set and her eyes vacant. Both the mother and daughter knew that Hera had not lied, their wisdom told them that much. But wisdom alone wasn't enough for Annabeth to find her boyfriend. Athena still did not approve of the hero as a future son-in-law, but being a goddess as well as a mother put a limit in how much she could be involved in her daughter's life. Besides, there still was that burden…

"Annabeth…" Athena spoke up. Her daughter looked at her emotionlessly.

"…I'm sorry."

She too, turned and walked back into the palace. The golden gates shut on Annabeth's face with a _clang_.

* * *

_**Sometimes the world breaks apart, underneath  
The trust upon which you set your weary feet  
The current pulls you towards disaster, you swim to break free**_

* * *

She didn't know how long she had been sitting outside on the grass, hypnotized by the fireflies' blinking lights and thinking, but her reverie was broken when a droplets of water started falling on and around her. It was still very late at night, but now the start were hidden behind dark clouds, dark _rain_ clouds. She was momentarily lost in her thoughts, unable to decide what should be done about the raindrops soaking into her clothes slowly.

"Is that you, Annabeth?"

Clara Chase's sleepy voice came from the door, and a few minutes later she was standing by her side, a long coat wrapped around the night dress. "Are you okay? What are you doing here out alone? It's raining, child. Come in."

She didn't move. She didn't want to move. How many times had she moved from place to place, looking for him? She was tired, worn out, exhausted. She only wanted him to be where she was, with her, a part of her. At that moment, she was not a daughter of the goddess of wisdom, or the head counselor of cabin six or the best strategist in the entire Camp. She was just a teenage girl who had lost her love. She was sad. She let no one see her vulnerability, but it was draining to walk behind a brave mask all the time.

It was on times like this she wished she had a mortal mother, someone who could give her a caring hug when she most needed it. Someone who understood her, someone who was _there._ Athena was an honorable mother, but she was bound by her immortality. The children of the Gods learned to accept the vacuum and live alone, but they, as any other child missed their birth parents' touch in their lives.

Mrs. Chase looked down at her step daughter, frowning in concern.

"It's raining, Annabeth," she repeated in a kinder tone. "Won't you come in?"

The fireflies flew inside the jar, still no intention to fly away.

"Anna…?"

Clara touched her shoulder, and the girl almost jerked away. She managed to restrain herself at the last moment; but the older woman did not miss the movement. Clara squeezed her shoulder and let go. "Sorry."

She was hurt. Mrs. Chase knew that it was partly her own fault. It was she who had blamed the demigod for the frequent monster attacks when the girl was barely old enough to understand her difference, her specialty. Yes, they had made peace over the years, but Annabeth spent the least possible time with her mortal family even now.

"It's okay."

The daughter of Athena was surprised herself to hear her own voice.

The rain was still falling, and it was getting heavier.

"I'm sure you'll find him soon, Annabeth."

She didn't reply. She knew that her stepmother regretted her retributions years before, and tried to build back their broken relationship and accepted her as a daughter, but it was hard to forget the past. Just like it was hard to accept that the West was considered unfortunate and dangerous to the half-bloods, when in truth it was because the Romans lived in the west, and they needed to be separated from the Greeks. It was not easy to live in San Francisco even now, hard to live down the beliefs. She had believed that the West was dangerous to the demigods. She had believed that her stepmother, and her entire mortal family in that case, hated her mere sight.

She shrugged weakly.

She wished she had a mother to give her a hug. For the first time in so long, she felt _weak. _

The fireflies in the jar had got enough of blinking around in the jar, and climbed up to the open lid. Perhaps the gathering water troubled them, and they didn't want to drown. But they didn't fly away.

"Come in, dear."

Small insects usually scared her, but Annabeth gingerly put her hand to the lid and let the two fireflies crawl on to her palm, blinking and sending tickles on her palm as they crawled over. She fought the urge to throw them away, and scraped them with a finger to a nearby plant with large leaves. She picked up the jar and emptied gathered water, and turned back to return to house. All without a single word.

She was surprised when Mrs. Chase gently pulled her into a hug. Clara might have rebuked the step daughter in the past, but she was not cruel by nature. Seeing the usually energetic girl thus broken worried her, and her womanly instincts saw that she needed the comfort. Annabeth didn't pull away, or even tried to this time. A tide of emotions welled up inside her, of grief and relief, of comfort and pain, threatening to drown her. Her throat felt like it was clamped shut with red-hot tongs. Tears that had been supposed to fall _weeks_ ago began to well in her eyes without her command, the protective walls he had built around herself breached for a moment.

She didn't hold back when a sob escaped her, silently crying into her stepmother's arms; finally bonding back as they should have had year ago.

* * *

_**You're not alone now, I'm not that far  
Always know that you're a shooting star  
You're never alone, Never Alone**_

* * *

**_A/N: _**_And__ that's it, people. :3 Don't forget to review, we live on them. _**_  
_**


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